Nehemiah 10:1-27--The People Who Sealed the Covenant

Nehemiah 10:1-27
English Standard Version

The People Who Sealed the Covenant
10  “On the seals are the names of Nehemiah the governor, the son of Hacaliah, Zedekiah, 2 Seraiah, Azariah, Jeremiah, 3 Pashhur, Amariah, Malchijah, 4 Hattush, Shebaniah, Malluch, 5 Harim, Meremoth, Obadiah, 6 Daniel, Ginnethon, Baruch, 7 Meshullam, Abijah, Mijamin, 8 Maaziah, Bilgai, Shemaiah; these are the priests. 9 And the Levites: Jeshua the son of Azaniah, Binnui of the sons of Henadad, Kadmiel; 10 and their brothers, Shebaniah, Hodiah, Kelita, Pelaiah, Hanan, 11 Mica, Rehob, Hashabiah, 12 Zaccur, Sherebiah, Shebaniah, 13 Hodiah, Bani, Beninu. 14 The chiefs of the people: Parosh, Pahath-moab, Elam, Zattu, Bani, 15 Bunni, Azgad, Bebai, 16 Adonijah, Bigvai, Adin, 17 Ater, Hezekiah, Azzur, 18 Hodiah, Hashum, Bezai, 19 Hariph, Anathoth, Nebai, 20 Magpiash, Meshullam, Hezir, 21 Meshezabel, Zadok, Jaddua, 22 Pelatiah, Hanan, Anaiah, 23 Hoshea, Hananiah, Hasshub, 24 Hallohesh, Pilha, Shobek, 25 Rehum, Hashabnah, Maaseiah, 26 Ahiah, Hanan, Anan, 27 Malluch, Harim, Baanah.

---

These are the names of those who affixed their names to the covenant that we talked about last time--when the people confessed their sins before the LORD and made a covenant with Him that He should be their God and they should be His people and obey His commandments from this day forward.  This covenant they signed was not just for themselves and that generation, but for all future generations to see that they were all in agreement that this is who they were called to be and what they were called to.  Those who affixed their names were the leaders of the people, the Levites, and the priests.  While these names don't jump off the page at us, they were very significant to the people, and would be recognized for generations to come.

Every covenant has terms and conditions, and we seem to right now have signatures not agreeing to anything specific.  That will be remedied next time when Nehemiah lays out the conditions of the covenant.  It was more important for Nehemiah to say that this covenant was the result of the people's repentance and that everyone was in full agreement (because it seemed like it was part of the public records for them) than to get into the nitty-gritty of the conditions of the covenant right away.  They will express some firm rules about what they will do and not do.  I'll give one example now--that issue about intermarriage with the Gentile peoples around them that Nehemiah was so upset about.... they include a statement in the covenant agreeing to follow God's command and not give their daughters or sons in marriage to the pagan peoples around them.  There are more things, but this sounds like a huge "win" as the point of confession is not to say, "I'm sorry," but to come into agreement with God about what He calls "good" and "evil."  Too many people "confess" their sin because they got caught and never really have true remorse nor do they come into agreement with God on the issue.  We see both things happen here with the people of Israel, and I think we see genuine repentance.  More on this covenant and its conditions next time.